"So why exactly are you asking for Hex crystal mining to stop?"
Jayce looked at the young man beside him. Caleb was a little shorter than he was, but he carried the same unmistakable air of a scholar.
And Jayce was willing to hear him out.
"For one, the crystals themselves are finite. I'd rather keep the current stockpile as an emergency reserve and use the ones Clan Ferros produces instead."
"And for another, the Brackern are protecting some greater existence. I don't know exactly what it is, but I know enough to say we do not want to provoke it."
After hearing Caleb out, Jayce nodded and smiled. "That makes sense."
He would still have to explain it all to the Council.
When that happened, Councilor Ferros would probably be the only one smiling.
Before they realized it, another day had already slipped away.
"Marcus is awake. His daughter's still staying with the Kirammans."
"After the meeting, I'll take the girl to visit her father."
Caleb absentmindedly toyed with the little device in his hand.
It was one of the little puzzle gadgets made in Piltover, something like a Rubik's Cube. The one he was holding was supposed to be the hardest version.
Rumor had it that Councilor Ferros had been fiddling with the children's version for years and still had not managed to restore it.
Caleb, meanwhile, had nearly solved this one in a single afternoon.
"I'm planning to put him back in a front-line street post and have him help you get established in the Undercity."
Jayce paused after saying it, studying Caleb's expression as he did.
But Caleb's eyes stayed fixed on the puzzle in his hands.
"You're too soft."
"But fine. Do it your way."
"How's Viktor doing?"
That was what Caleb cared about most.
Even with Destiny's guidance, he still could not help worrying a little.
After all, he had destroyed the Hexcore.
And if Viktor had needed that thing to survive...
then who knew what would happen next.
"His organs are all failing. It doesn't look good."
Jayce's tone turned serious the moment the subject came up. This was life and death.
"We have to arrange the procedure immediately."
With a crisp click, the last piece in Caleb's hand slid into place, and the puzzle returned to its original form.
Truthfully, Caleb did not know that much about Viktor either.
Back in his previous life, the people who picked Viktor in League always liked to boast that they would carry every match, but most games were already decided by the twenty-minute mark.
Naturally, Caleb had never cared enough to go digging through every detail of the champion's lore.
But he admired Viktor's spirit.
Whether it was "Join the glorious evolution," or "As long as we live, there is always a choice."
In the mud of Zaun, Viktor was like a stubborn lotus blooming on the waters of Piltover.
Caleb had no intention of letting that flower wither too soon.
But while thinking about it all, Caleb suddenly felt that, as the protagonist, he ought to have a heroine too, shouldn't he?
Vi? The chemistry between her and Cupcake was so intense it practically knocked him over.
He had spent so long with the two of them in Zaun feeling like a third wheel.
Jinx?
She seemed like she belonged with Ekko.
Camille?
She was in her seventies.
Forget that.
Her legs might not be augmented yet, but once they were, they would be downright deadly.
That pretty much only left Janna.
But Janna was a goddess, the faith of all Zaun. There was no way she would lower herself to be with him.
Orianna?
Perfect clockwork precision fitting together seamlessly...
Yeah, better not.
Damn, don't tell me this was one of those stories with no heroine at all.
No matter how shameless the author was, he could not possibly be that shameless, right?
Still thinking that, Caleb walked into the Council chamber alongside Jayce.
As always, sunlight streamed down from above, warm and bright.
...
"Yazde's dead?"
Silco fell silent for a moment before taking another drag from his cigar.
"Completely dead. After that monster left, I went and checked the body myself."
Even Sevika sounded a little shaken.
The scene had been that horrific. Even for someone used to death, there was no getting numb to something like that.
"Now nobody in Zaun dares go out at night. They're all afraid they'll run into that 'doctor.'"
"Aren't we going to deal with him, boss?"
"That," Silco said with a faint smile, "is Caleb's problem."
"If he can't even handle one lunatic, then what's he supposed to do about all the rest?"
"Where's Jinx?" Silco still cared most about his daughter.
"She went out to blow off steam a couple days ago. Said she met someone really interesting."
"Same as ever." Silco leaned back against the desk and exhaled a stream of smoke.
"I already dealt with the toughest one for him. The rest depends on what he can do."
"If he's going to take Zaun from my hands, then he has to prove he can hold it."
"Boss."
Sevika called out again anyway.
"What is it?" Silco turned to look at her.
"I'm not okay with this." Sevika bit down on her cigarette and looked at the leader she had followed willingly for so many years. "Caleb's an outsider. How can he—"
"That's enough." Silco stubbed his cigar out in the ashtray. "I know what you're trying to say."
"Vander valued the lives of the people in the Lanes too much."
"And I never valued them enough."
Silco let out a breath, suddenly looking far older than before.
"I can't keep Zaun under control forever. And the Shimmer business can't go on forever either."
"We both know this is poison disguised as medicine. It only leads to a dead end."
His voice was calm.
"Jinx won't become a second me. She'll only ever be herself."
"If Caleb really can improve conditions in Zaun without war, then I'll gladly accept it."
"And after that, even if I end up in Stillwater Hold, I won't have any regrets."
Silco looked over the desk covered in scribbled-on junk and quietly closed his right eye.
That was what he said, at least.
But without that loud, chaotic girl making noise around him all day, there would still be some loneliness left behind.
Sevika touched the two cracks running across the left side of her face and nodded.
A new era was coming, and relics of the old one would have no place in it.
...
"And that concludes everything for this meeting."
As the dome opened overhead, sunlight once again poured into the Council chamber.
What struck Caleb as strange was that after the explanation about the Hex crystals, Councilor Ferros did not seem pleased at all.
Maybe he just did not want to make it too obvious?
Then again... he did not exactly look like a mastermind.
Shaking his head, Caleb pulled his thoughts back to something more important.
Viktor's new body design.
Part of chemtech was biomechanics, and Caleb understood that side of it too.
So compared to someone academy-trained like Jayce, Caleb's rougher, less orthodox approach to design could sometimes be unexpectedly useful.
Of course, with Viktor's talent, he would definitely keep replacing his parts with better ones over time.
But the first body still had to be one he could adapt to, so the two of them were trying to make it as perfect as possible.
By now, Viktor was so thin he was little more than skin and bones.
Caleb had to get Caitlyn involved just to keep him pinned to the bed and resting properly.
Unless something unexpected happened, tomorrow's operation would let him slowly begin a new life.
...
Urgot was not sharpening his blade today.
He and the blade both lay in silence.
He called this process "sheathing."
He had learned something important: tomorrow, Ambessa Medarda would be dining at one of Piltover's upscale restaurants.
Not all of the bodyguards she brought with her were particularly disciplined, so it had only taken a few words to get the information out of a drunk one.
Piltover security, in his eyes, was laughable.
Enforcers?
Crushing them would be about as hard as crushing chicks.
Supposedly one Councilor Talis would also be there, along with someone named... Caleb?
That sounded Ionian.
None of that mattered.
What mattered was that he was going to cut off her head.
And show the world the terror of Noxus.